A Few Pictures from Today: Small Things

This afternoon I spent a few moments strolling through a garden, shooting pictures of small things. I used my cheap Mercury Optic macro lens or the macro setting on my Tamron 70-300mm lens. My first subject was a little, shiny fly chilling on a zinnia. It sat there, oblivious or indifferent to my camera looming above it.

A shiny fly on a zinnia.

I found a wasp sitting on a hydrangea leaf. It seemed a bit agitated at being photographed.

A wasp on a hydrangea leaf.

A praying mantis hiding in a Japanese holly caught my eye. I think it smiled for me.

A praying mantis on a Japanese holly.

The same praying mantis shot with a different lens.

A hairstreak butterfly sat peacefully on a hydrangea flower. I cannot tell the different hairstreak butterfly species apart. I like the detail on the antennas and the mix of defined lines and loose edges on the wing coloration.

A hairstreak butterfly on a hydrangea flower.

The redbud leaffolder (Fascista cercerisella) is a fascinating little creature. I’m not fond of it, due to the severe aesthetic damage it can do to a redbud, but it is rather festive in its latter larval stage. With black and white stripes, it looks like a Dr. Seuss creature.

A redbud leaffolder on a Chinese redbud leaf (which it had folded).

A cat walked by, and though it was larger than the subjects I had been photographing, I decided to take a picture. I wonder what happened to the tip of  her left ear? Also, cat eyes are terrifying.

A cat.

An Autumn Mosey

This morning I decided to mosey around campus and collect a few plant pictures I have been meaning to take. The weather was spectacular. Taking pictures was a bit of a challenge due to the brightness of the sun, but it worked out.

Here are a few shots:

Enkianthus campanulatus

My primary goal was to get some photos of redvein enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus). It develops rock star foliage in the fall. We have an old specimen on campus, and it looks really good this year.

Acer rubrum

The next plant that I wanted to photograph was red maple (Acer rubrum). We have a wide variety of maples on campus, so I snapped a collection of shots.

Kolkwitzia amabilis

I took a picture of fruit capsules of Japanese beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis). This plant is easy to identify because the individual capsules look like headless chickens. Do you see the resemblance? On the left side is a cluster of capsules, and on the right is a single capsule on my palm.

In the middle of campus there are two small cottages that are used as forensics labs and crime scene investigation practice. There is often yellow police tape around one or both of the cottages, broken windows, bullet holes, and other simulated crime props. I think it’s funny that there is not some sort of signage that states that it is for a class. Visitors to campus are given the impression that rampant crime occurs in University Park. I wonder how many people think they are looking at a real crime scene?

Just another "crime scene" on campus

I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to go leave fingerprints on a doorknob or window. But I didn’t. Self-control is a virtue.

Cubicle Makeover

I have an “office” on campus. I put the word office in quotes because it is actually a cubicle in a large room. Before this semester I spent very little time in my office. This semester there are new desk chairs in the office, which is wonderful. The old chairs were beyond bad. I’ve sat on rocks that were more comfortable than my old desk chair. The new ones are nice.

In part because I have a new desk chair, and in part because of my schedule (ok, so this is the largest part), I’ve been spending a few hours every week in my office. My cubicle is pretty bland. I have a Flyers pennant and a couple of 5×7 plant pictures hanging up, but not much.

I’ve decided to do a bit of decorating to make my cubicle less depressing. I’m planning to put a small gallery of black and white photos, a few color plant pictures, and a few additional things up. This will happen in the next month or so.

Here are a few of the pictures I’ll be using:

I took the following picture last year on a fall day as I wandered around campus. It was a sunny Saturday. People were starting to head to beaver Stadium to watch the football game. This is the edge of the fountain that is located across from the HUB.

 

I took the following picture last spring before a horticultural systematics class. I had set up the lab for the class already, so I took a few pictures of the plants we were going to study.

I took the following picture in the summer of 2007 at Manoa Falls. There was a guy sitting on the rocks at the base of the falls. I wanted to get a picture without him in it. I shot this from very low to the ground, and he leaned down to pick something up, rendering himself invisible for a moment. Success.

Little Z

This morning I had some pictures taken with my nephew Zander. He’s the one in the white shirt; I have a white and gray shirt on. Notice Little Z is rocking an aspiring (natural) faux hawk.

I suppose I am biased when it comes to evaluating the little guy’s cuteness . .  but I think he’s at the top of the scale.

We took turns closing our eyes, then got it right on the third try.

Plant Pictures

I take pictures of plants. It’s a mixture of hobby and obsession. Georgia O’Keefe once stated that a flower can become the world (in the eyes of the beholder). I think I know what she was talking about. Flowers are amazing. Here are four pictures I took several years ago: